23 



80000 yojanas; it is surrounded by precious walls, a beautiful 

 railing, garden and parks, adorned with every species of decora- 

 tion". This Sagara, one of the eight Great Naga kings mentioned 

 above, apparently obtained the principal rank among the rain 

 bestowing Nagas of the sea, worshipped by the Northern Buddhists. 



From the Saddharma smrtyupasthana sutra ', which Beal, 

 without giving the Chinese title, wrongly calls Saddharma Prahasa 

 sasana sutra, but which I found in Nanjo's Catalogue sub nr 

 679, Beal quotes the following passage: "Down in the depths 

 of the Great Sea 1000 yojanas is a city named Hi-loh, its length 

 and breadth 3000 yojanas; it is occupied by Nagarajas. There 

 are two sorts of Nagarajas: 1. Those who practise the Law of 

 Buddha; 2. Those who do not do so. The first protect the world; 

 the second are opposed to it. Where the good Nagas dwell it 

 never raius hot sand, but the wicked Nagas are subject to this 

 plague, and their palaces and followers are all burned up. Whenever 

 men obey the Law, and cherish their parents, and support and 

 feed the Shamans, then the good Nagarajas are able to acquire 

 increased power, so that they can cause a small fertilizing rain 

 to fall, by which the five sorts of grain are perfected -in colour, 

 scent, and taste .... If, on the contrary, men are disobedient to 

 the Law, do not reverence their parents, do not cherish the 

 Brahmans and Shamans, then the power of the wicked dragons 

 increases, and just the opposite effects follow; every possible 

 calamity happens to the fruits of the earth and to the lives 

 of men". 



Finally, the Buddhavataksaha mahdvaipulya sutra ® contains a 

 large number of interesting passages with regard to the Nagas 

 as gods of clouds and rain. Beal translates as follows: "In the 

 midst of the Palace of the Naga-raja Sagara there are four pre- 

 cious gems, from which are produced all the gems of the Ocean. 

 Here also is the Palace of Jambuketu, the Naga-raja's eldest son ; 

 also the palace of Vasuhi Naga-raja, and eighty myriads of other 

 Dragons, each having his separate palace". 



'^There are five sorts of Dragons: 1. Serpent- dragons; 2. Lizard- 

 dragons; 3. Fish-dragons; i. Elephant-dragons; Toad-dragons". 



1 JE ^ ± ^ ^ (N^^^^°' "^ 679). 



2 Nanjo, nrs 87 and 88: 'f^'^ ^'^^^^^ ''**. Mahavaipulya Bud- 

 dhavatamsaka sutra ; nr 87 is translated by Buddhabhadra ( ^ ^ , who worked 

 A. D. 398—421, cf. Nanjo, Appendix II, nr 42, p. 399) and others; nr 88 is a later 

 and fuller translation by QikshInanda, A. D. 695—699. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



